View From History: Post Office Overhaul

Bob Englehart

As part of our 250th celebration, I'll be posting selected historical cartoons from The Courant's files every Thursday. Today's is a cartoon by Hugh Haynie of the Louisville Courier-Journal. Henry McNulty, who is our informal historic authority on all things Courant, provides the explanation for the cartoons.

Today's explanation:

May 1969: Soon after Richard Nixon became President, Postmaster General Winton Blount recommended major changes in the Post Office Department, which was very old-fashioned and heavily politicized. Nixon asked Congress to pass the Postal Service Act of 1969, and the cartoon shows him standing confidently behind a decrepit letter carrier; more than a year later, a version of the postal act was passed. The comment about men on the moon refers to the lunar landing that would occur in about two months.